Joshua

I had coffee today, so I feel like I need to accomplish something. It appears that writing an overdue blog post will be that something.

I finished the book of Joshua weeks ago. I don't even remember when I finished it actually. It may have been during SICM, it may have been during the mission trip I went on with the youth group to Riverside, or it may have been sometime during the past few weeks here in the Tri-Cities, I really don't know. But now you know what I've been up to lately and I think it's high time for me to share about the book of Joshua.

When I finished reading Joshua, I realized quickly that my thematic summary of the book would be short. In fact, what I got out of it boils down to just three words.

God is Faithful.

That's pretty much it. During the first five books of the Bible, God makes a lot of promises with the Israelites whom He chose to be His people. I suggest that Joshua is, essentially, the story of God fulfilling those promises and proving His Faithfulness.

I really want to end this post here, but I can't. Lately, God has been showing this same extraordinary Faithfulness to me quite bluntly. I've had a tough time adjusting to life down here. It should be going fine. The part-time hours for the internship are enough to keep me active, but not too much for me enjoy the more chill pace of summer. Even the time I spend at work is a huge blessing. Getting to hang out with youth, play games, talk about Jesus stuff, it's all great. Life around the house has been good too. There haven't been any major lifestyle adjustments I've had to make (or many minor ones, for that matter). But for some reason

I've felt isolated and alone.

In my desperation, I refused to turn to God. I don't know what I turned to but it could only have been myself since I felt so alone. And I stopped reading the Bible. I stopped praying. I stopped listening for Him. I cut all the wires I could find that connected me to Him and held the severed ends away from each other in case they tried to pull themselves back together. I refused to even dip a toe into the pool of Christian fellowship and instead dove head first into the escapist sea of videogames. It's not that videogames are a sea of escapism. But playing them for over 6 hours a day for an entire week makes them a leaky submarine into that sea. I was drowning alone in my own decisions. And I think I did drown. Or at least I got to the point where I had given up on breathing, because I was numb for most of last week and didn't care to try to feel or care or love or obey anymore. My facade of apathy was nearing completion and I was about ready to give up on the rest of summer.

And God was Faithful.

This is where the pen runs out of paper for now. I have only just started the journey out of this hole I made. I listened for God for the first time in weeks last Friday. I made new friends for the first time in weeks this Sunday. I read my bible for the first time in a week today. So I don't know what comes next. Not much has really changed yet. But there's a light of hope over everything now. The scenery hasn't changed, but I'm seeing it with new eyes. Thank You God for new eyes.